The whooshing and humming of a half-dozen blow-dryers didn’t faze Kerry Keys and Lindsay
Fisher.

The close friends were toasting Keys’ 23rd birthday at the newly opened Blowout Bar near
Grandview Heights — with complimentary Champagne, a “semiprivate” screening of the chick flick
You’ve Got Mail and a fresh hairdo.

No cut, no color, no perm — just a shampoo and styling.

“We were pampering ourselves,” Fisher, a 22-year-old Ohio State University student, said as she
and Keys, a supermarket manager, each paid $35 for a 45-minute appointment.

“But it was very productive.”

The Blowout Bar — a blow-dry-only salon that touts relaxation and fun girl time — was opened on
Oct. 12 by sisters Kristin and Kailen Kouvas.

It marks the second such establishment introduced recently to the Columbus area.

Styleout, which Rafi Qureshi opened on Oct. 4 at Easton Town Center, is billed as the first.

The modern version of the roller set, a blowout is designed for any woman — a student,
grandmother, professional or stay-at-home mom — who has neither the time nor the motivation to do
her own hair, the Kouvas sisters said.

Blowout-only salons have been popular on the coasts for at least several years, said Qureshi,
34, of Dublin.

Blow, among the earliest blow-dry bars, opened in 2005 in New York.

Another salon there, Drybar, has expanded to 33 locations nationwide in three years.

“Nobody was focusing on this in the Midwest,” Qureshi said. “When I first saw this concept, I
thought: ‘We are missing this in Columbus.’”

Qureshi, who this week opened a Styleout in Pittsburgh and next week will open one in Boston,
thinks the concept suits Columbus because of its strong fashion culture.

The Kouvas sisters, both Downtown residents, were sold on the concept after visiting a Drybar in
New York a few years ago.

“We’re always go, go, go,” Kristin, 30, said of their annual trips to the Big Apple.

“This saved us time by not having to shower.”

Whenever they traveled, they looked for blowout bars.

“Then we’d come back to Ohio and wish we had one here,” said Kailen, 27.

They finally decided to open one after a friend, a recent transplant from Dallas, asked them in
July 2012 about the nearest blow-dry bar — and they didn’t have a place to recommend.

“It isn’t just a trend in the big cities,” Kailen said. “It’s a new thing in the beauty industry
and a way to treat yourself in a quick and convenient way.”

“No matter where you are,” Kristin added, “women are still going to be women. They still have to
go to dinner parties, or they still hate doing their hair.”

With a rustic motif, boasting reclaimed Ohio barn wood in most of the fixtures, the Blowout Bar
seeks to provide relaxation during a lunch hour, after work or ahead of a big event. (Blow-dry
salons often serve prom, bachelorette and wedding parties.)

Guests are offered coffee or Champagne before hitting the hair-washing sinks.

Most looks — with names such as Cosmo, Flirtini and Bahama Mama — are accomplished using a round
brush and a blow-dryer, Kailen said.

With some choices, extra curls are added.

Styleout, on the other hand, features a more modern decor, with white leather chairs and —
through the middle of the shop — a granite countertop bar.

For an extra fee, a Styleout patron might get an updo, a nail-polish refresher or a makeup
application, she said.

(The Blowout Bar doesn’t offer makeup but provides a space for women to do their own
powdering.)

Like any other good bar, the shop has a happy hour — featuring half-off blowouts on certain
weekday afternoons.

The greatest challenge for Qureshi: educating customers.

Danielle Hess, who only recently learned from a neighbor about blowout bars, stopped by Styleout
before a Halloween party.

“It’s a good in-between place, especially if you can’t get into your normal hair person,” said
Hess, 35, of New Albany.

Traditional salons, Qureshi acknowledged, sell blowouts, too.

“But they have so many other responsibilities; it’s not their focus,” he said. “The stylists
here do it all day long.”

Charles Penzone, which has listed a “shampoo style” for decades, changed the name in March to “
blowout” to make it more recognizable, said Jena Huffman, assistant director of marketing for the
chain.

A little more than a year ago, the Jolie Laide Hair Salon in German Village created Blow by J.L.
to cater to customers wanting a just-from-the-salon look without the higher cost and longer
appointment.